Coitvebtible cab



w. LHOSCEIT. CONVERTIBLE CAR.

APPLICATION FILED IIILY 21,1911.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

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@w MW WILLIAM JOSEPH HOSCEIT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONVERTIBLE GAR.

Specic'ationof Letters Patent. Pat'entd Dec. 16, 41919.

Application led J'u1yv27, 1917. Serial No. 183,060.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that` I, WiLLrAM JOSEPH HoscErr, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in Convertible Cars, of which the' followingis a specilication.

This invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to cars which areconvertible to carry various kinds Vof materials and live stock.

One of the objects of my invention is to render a; car readily convertible to carry various. kinds of freight.

Another object is to provide a convertible railway car having a few c'ompactly arranged parts adapted to meet the various requirements for successful commercial operation.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a railway car having a car body, the sides of which are formed by a plurality of spaced members to permit the passage of air, and means for closing the spaces between said members to Vmake a tight car.

The invention is illustrated on the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a freight car embodying my invention;

going in another direction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation, parts being in section', showing parts from the inside of the car, and,

Fig. 3 ris a fragmentary sectional view of a freight car embodying a modification of my invention. The various novel features of the invention will be apparent from the following desoription and drawings, and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In view of commercial conditions freight cars are in great demand, and as a matter of fact, there is a great car shortage to carry various kinds of freight. For this reason it is necessary to make all cars as nearly general purpose cars as can be.- Therever possible, it is common for railway cars to be used 'for carryingV one kind of freight going in one direction and another kind of freight Heretofore it has not been possible to do so in certain cases. For example; cattle cars may be used for carrying cattle in certain directions and it happens quite frequently that these cattle cars must be returned to theirA initial point empty to 'receive another consignment of cattle. This, however, especially in view vof the great shortage of cars, should not loe/theV case for the reason that all cars should` be loaded in whatever direction thev are going.V Of course, it is well understood thatim-,less some provision is made, cattle cars, the: sides o f which are formed by spaced members to. permit the passageof air, arenot adapted'to carry certain kinds of freight, for instance, freight which should be kept dry, or freight which might be in the vform of coal or grain which would leak out'between Athe spaced members. yHowever, by meansof my invention I make it possible to convert cattle cars, having theirsides formed by spaced members to permit the passage of a'ir, into substantially Y tight cars whereby almost any kind of freightmay be carried without becoming damaged in any manner whatsoever by rain or the like or which would leak out between the spaced members of the cars.

By referring to Figs. l and 2 of the'drawings it will be noted that I have shown a freight car 10 having a floor 11, roof 12, and sides 13, only one of which sides is here shown. i

This car primarily is a cattle car in' which the greater part of each side is formed by longitudinally arranged slats or boardsVV 141 which are spaced lfrom each other to form longitudinally arranged openings 15 through which air may pass to ventilate the car. The spaced members 14 are reinforced kat their outer side by side stakes 16. As stated above, it is very advantageous to change such ventilated cattle cars into substantially tight cars for carrying merchandise of various descriptions. In order to accomplish this result I have provided a plurality of vertically slidably mounted members 17, only one of Y which is shown and to which are "secured longitudinally arranged closure strips preferably of metal 18, which are spaced from each other and adapted to close the spaces between thespaced members 14.

As shown in Figs-1 and 2 'each of these members 18 is formed of sheet-metal, one portion being bent back on the other and having at its lower end a downwardly and sidewardly extending portion 19 which is arranged to t over the top beveled surface of its corresponding member 14. The lower Y edge 20 of the extended portion 19 is arranged vertically and it with the lower end of the vertically arranged portion 21 of member 18 forms a channel like portion which caps or extends over the beveled upper edge ot its corresponding member 1/1 in a manner to prevent lateral movementof the closure members 18 thereby making a tight tit between the members 14 and 18. It will be noted also that the downwardly and outwardly extending portions 19 of members 18 are arranged to shed water.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the closure members or slides 18 are in their normal po sition to permit the passage of air through the spaces 15. Under these conditions the, car is arranged for carrying cattle. 1f it is desired to close the spaces between the members 14 to make a tight car for carrying general mechandise, the same may be accomplished by moving downwardly in a vertical direction the members 17 to which the slides or closure members are secured. The closure members and their supporting rods 17 may be reciprocated by any suitable 'sliding mechanism. 1n this particular instance l have shown the Vrod 17 connected to a channel shape member 22 in which is slidably mounted a block or eccentric strap 23 carrying an eccentric 2li whereby upon the rotation of the shaft 25 the closure members will be made to move in a vertical direction to either close or open the spaces between the members 1-1. The closure members 18 may be locked in adjusted position by a suitable key 26 which is adapted to engage any of the notches 27 formed in the notched wheel 28 mounted upon the shaft 25. rElie lower end of the rod 17 is slidably received and guided by suitably supported members 29. The closure members 18 on the operating rod are protected from the inside of the car by uprights 30, members 29 and members 39, said members 29 and 39 extending longitudinally of the car with the members 14 to form. pockets de() :tor the reception of the closure members `13 when they do not close the spaces 15 between the members 14. ln this way cattle in the car cannot in any manner damage the closure members and associated parts. Coal and other materials also are thereby prevented from packing in around the closure members in a manner to damage them. It will be noted that the upper inside edge of each of the members 39 is beveled to assist in shedding grain and the like. 1n Fig. 3 of the drawings a modification of my invention is shown. 1n this modification each of the side members 31, which are spaced from each other, has an upwardly and laterally extending top portion 32 over which a correspondingly inclined portion 33 ot each of the closure members 3% may tt, the lower vertical portion 35 of each of the closure members passing to one side of the inclined portion 32 of each of the side members 31 to assist in preventing lateral movement of the closure members.

. lBy means of the arrangement herein shown and described, 1 have provided a con vertible car in which live stock may be carried and also in which other merchandise may be carried without any damage being done thereto or waste by leakage thereof.

lt is evident that there may be various modifications of the invention other than those herein particularly shown and described, and it is my intention to cover all such modiiications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

l claim:

1. In a railway car, the combination of a car body having a side formed by a plurality of spaced members to permit the passage oi air therebetween, closure members for closing the spaces between said first mentioned members and having means completely capping the spaced members to prevent relative lateral movement between the spaced and closure members.

2. In a railway car, the combination of a car body having a side formed by a plurality ot' spaced members to permit the passage of air therebetween, closure members for closing the spaces between said spaced members, protecting members adjacent said closure members to prevent injury to the latter, and members extending between said spaced members and protecting members to cover said closure members.

3. ln a railway car, the combination of a car body having a side formed by a plurality of spaced members to permit the passage of air therebetween, a movable supporting member, closure members connected to said supporting member for movement to close the spaces between said spaced members, protecting members adjacent said closure members to prevent injury to the latter, and members extending between said spaced members and protecting members to cover said closure members, said supporting member being guided in its movement by the members extending between the spaced meinbers and protecting members.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 23rd day ot July, A. D., 1917.

TVVILLIAJVI JOSEPH HOSCEIT. 

